Eagle-Vail dispensary to get first marijuana vending machine

Special to the Daily
The ZaZZZ vending machine for marijuana products may look like something that ought to carry chips and other snacks, but it actually requires a verified ID before it will take money and dispense products.

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Honan is the owner of the Herbal Elements medical marijuana dispensary in Eagle-Vail. He recently partnered with Tranzbyte, a company specializing in the technology of marijuana, to put the first ZaZZZ vending machine in the dispensary.

Nearly 200 people turned out at a recent invitation-only event at Montana’s Smokehouse in Avon to see how the machine worked. The machine had no marijuana products in it at the time — that couldn’t happen in a place with a liquor license, Honan said — but people could see how the thing will work once it’s at Herbal Elements.

Honan said it was well-received by potential customers. And he hopes those customers will find it more convenient to use when Herbal Elements gets all its required state permits and permissions and has the thing up and operating in the next few weeks.

SIMPLIFYING SALES

When it is running, Honan said he expects the machine to help his business a few ways.

First, the ZaZZZ machine provides a secure way to store items. Honan said it will help state officials with the “seed to store” tracking system. Items will also be harder to steal since the machine weighs roughly 1,000 pounds when it’s fully loaded.

The machine will also free up display space. Honan said the machine can display about 80 items in the space where 20 items now sit.

Finally, the machine can provide a more efficient way to serve clients.

Honan said new clients require a lot of time and attention to guide them through the range of medical marijuana products. A client who knows what he or she wants can come in, get an ID check in person, then another at the machine, buy the desired products and leave.

Shearin, the chief operating officer of Tranzbyte, the company that makes the ZaZZZ machine, said the company had talked to a number of dispensary operators before deciding on Herbal Elements as the first host for its machine.

“(Honan) was the first guy to really understand what we’re trying to do,” Shearin said.

UBIQUITOUS EDIBLES

The goal, both Honan and Shearin say, is to further normalize the marijuana business. Shearin equated using the ZaZZZ machine to self-checkout areas at grocery or home-improvement stores. And, he added, the ZaZZZ machine will be a good way to make more edible products available. That’s another area Tranzbyte is working in, Shearin said.

“We really see edibles as where the market is going,” Shearin said. “We think most people want that in the future.”

While the ZaZZZ machines will go to medical dispensaries initially — Shearin said Tranzbyte already has numerous orders — Honan sees an opportunity for the machine to have an effect on the recreational marijuana business, too. There could be a day when a dual operation such as the one envisioned for Herbal Elements has a machine for medical products in one half of the operation and a machine for recreational products in another part.

“It really helps in taking out human error,” Honan said.

“The machine is really spurring conversation,” Shearin said. “Let’s get people talking about what (the marijuana business) means.”